[chriscoffey]

Hi all, just acquired first van. Appears to have had a hard life! Not sure if the second owner had ever heard of a service. Still, nice to know they can do 100000 miles without an oil change. Why do people do that? Anyhow, as well as the apparent shark attack to the front seat foam, it also appears that the same shark has chewed off a pull-out lever that is situated on the dash, to the right of the steering wheel, just below the dash board dimmer switch and head light switch. There's no lever left, that once might have indicated what it's purpose was. Its like a sad, chewed stump now.

Can anyone tell me what it did - before I try to pull it with a mole grip to find out the practical way?

Thanks guys.

 

[sleepwhendead]

I think it may be your cold start lever

 

[maximus659]

Probably got my old one about somewhere if you need a replacement

 

[gojira]

I think it may be your cold start lever

yup.

what engine do you have? my 1.9td runs rough as anything and chucks out clouds of smoke on startup if i don't pull the cold start out before turning the key.

it advances the pump timing (i think). if the lever's gone then it may be jammed open or shut. if you pull the cable you can see the other end of it on the diesel pump moving.

 

[nicklouse]

as mentioned it is the cold start lever which advances the diesel injection timing by a max of 4 degrees.

 

[chriscoffey]

Thank you everyone, that explains it then. Maximus, yes please if you have a replacement, looks like I better do just that.

We took our first trip in it this weekend and found a good few snags, that any advice on would be really helpful!

1 Speedo read randomly all the time from zero to well above our speed, irrespective of the actual speed.

2 There appears to be a breather tube coming out, pointing upward from a low point in the engine bay on the left, with a screw stuck in the end of it blocking it. There's another breather tube coming from a higher point of the engine from the right, that may well be the other ones counterpart - anyone know what I'm describing and if they are linked, and indeed whether either of them should have been blocked off in the way it has been?

3 Cabin temp dial makes no difference to the air temp coming from any of the vents.

4 All the dials died on the dash, then came back to life - then died again.

5 Metallic grind/whine in 3rd and 5th but not in the other gears.

6 Thump/clunk under the floor in the front centre (under my left foot) when we went over uneven roads.

7 Engine fumes entering the central cool air vents. There's no cabin filter in the intake yet but could there be other issues too?

Apart from all these concerns, it was a fab trip (350 miles) and she made it there and back in one piece - we were doubtful at first!

 

[nicklouse]

Temp control lever broken (centre vents fresh air only)

Dry solder on voltage regulator.

Can do if some parts are missing.


Knowing model and year is also a good start for getting info.

 

[chriscoffey]

Good point - this is all on a 1998 1.9td 800 special with 160k